World on Fire
by ancient-relic
Summary: If only this moment could last forever; because if there was anything that he would ever remember her for, it was the way she set his world on fire. Sequel to The Principal of Drowning.
1. spark

**A/N:** So it's been a while, yeah? This little nugget has been floating around for ages and I never really did anything with it. But for some reason, I really loved _The Principle of Drowning_ and I wanted to continue Kagome and Kisame's story. This happened as a result.

I don't know how long it's going to be, or how frequent I'll be updating, but bear with me! I hope to make it all worth it! ^_^

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, I don't own InuYasha.

* * *

**world on fire**

**i - spark**

**by ancient-relic**

**-::-**

"I'm sure you're curious as to why I've gathered you all here, today." The Leader spoke from the shadows.

Kisame shifted slightly in his spot against the wall, but said nothing. The Leader was always full of rhetorical questions—as if it added to his _mystique_… As if hiding amongst the shadows wasn't cheesy enough already.

"While you have all been very diligent with your current assignments, this is an information session. Something very curious has come to my attention, and I require all of you to put your best efforts into procuring it for me."

"Procuring what, un?" Deidara piped up, his normal exuberance muted in the presence of their leader.

"Not what, I should say…" Leader paused for a moment. "But _who_."

Beside him, Kisame felt more than saw Itachi stiffen. It wasn't often that the Uchiha involuntarily reacted to his surroundings… recently however, it was becoming more and more of the norm. Kisame idly wondered if the Leader was going to say something about the youngest Uchiha.

"There is a woman, a rogue of sorts, wandering the countryside." The Leader began. Kisame's right temple began to develop a tick, and the promise of an oncoming headache seemed to blossom from somewhere inside his skull. The mention of _women_ always did that to him.

_Such troublesome creatures,_ he mused in his head. Hopefully this wouldn't be something that would grow to demand his full attention.

"My sources have informed me she is in the possession of a very powerful artifact, of great repute and legend. I require you to find this woman and bring her to me. Alive or dead, she will be of no use to me once I possess the artifact. Do not attempt to search or remove this artifact from her person."

The Leader paused, his eyes shining in the darkness as he looked at the ninja assembled before him.

"That is all."

* * *

Kisame followed Itachi as he walked through the forest, staring contemplatively at the soles of his partner's sandals. The leaves were turning the brilliant colours of fire as the seasons transitioned into winter. This area reminded him of something… but what? Konoha would be in the middle of their annual celebration of the changing leaves, and Kisame had a sudden craving for their dango.

"I have heard rumors of this woman." Itachi said quietly—so quietly, that Kisame would have missed it had his partner not stopped abruptly.

"I'm having the oddest sense of déjà-vu at the moment," Kisame commented.

Itachi gave him a stony look, but dipped his head. "We have encountered this woman before. Just over a year ago, in the early summer."

Kisame closed his eyes, and searched his memory. Not many things ever stuck around unless they were important enough that they were worth remembering… but a woman? Kisame chuckled a little and shook his head. No faces and no names. But then…

"Wasn't that around the time you hit your head…suffered short term memory loss?" Kisame snapped his fingers.

"Correct."

"Something attacked us." Kisame recalled, rubbing his temple. The tick was back. "I remember waking up on my back, beside you. We'd clearly been in a fight, but no one was around. It was north of here, outside of Konoha, wasn't it?"

"I do not recall." Itachi said after a long moment. "I had someone look in to our travels around that time, and said we had last been seen heading in that direction in the company of a long, dark-haired woman dressed in a plain summer kimono."

"A civilian?"

"Perhaps." Itachi allowed. "I believe it was the same woman that we have now been assigned to locate."

"There are probably a million women in this world. Why her?" Kisame scoffed.

"I can think of no one who we would have allowed to _escape_." Itachi said the last word almost bitterly. "None who would have appeared as a companion."

"Why would we have been travelling with this woman?" Kisame shook his head. "That doesn't add up."

"We need to find her before the others, and solve this gap." Itachi said brusquely. "That is the only way to find the answers we seek."

* * *

Later that night, as Kisame lay across the fire from his partner, memories of a dark haired woman with bright eyes danced through his mind.

She was faceless, and voiceless, but he watched her walk ahead of them, her long hair swaying with her stride. She would glance back to inquire something of him, but his words were lost too.

She would curl up across from him, and stare into the fire, before she would glance up and their eyes would meet, her gaze reflecting the dancing flames and mesmerizing him like nothing else.

The most troubling dream was the foggiest out of all of them. It began in a cave. He cradled her fragile body ever so gently, as if afraid she would break if he jostled her. He felt the familiar, slimy coating of blood on his hands, and knew it was hers. Her arm and her side were bleeding freely. Lightning cracked sharply in the distance, and her eyes opened and met his, calm and seemingly unaware of her injuries.

He couldn't look anywhere else than at her f ace, and he memorized the way her dark bangs fell across her forehead, tracing across to her temples. Then they were no longer in the cave, and she was reaching up to return his embrace, pressed tightly against his chest. He held her as close as possible, feeling the heat of her skin so vividly that he wondered for a moment if he wasn't actually dreaming. But then she pulled away from him, and said something he couldn't hear, and all of a sudden he couldn't move. She was walking away, leaving him in a clearing in the forest. She didn't turn back to look, and she didn't say anything else. She disappeared into the trees, heedless of his attempts to call out.

* * *

As they walked through the crowded city streets of Konoha under the most elaborate genjutsu Itachi could prepare, Kisame felt sorely out of place. Every time someone brushed against him, he restrained himself from reaching out and shoving them away. There were far too many people in a small place for his taste. All he wanted was some damn dango.

"Here," his partner returned, handing him a stick of the delicious food. "The girl is near, I can feel it."

"What?" Kisame mumbled around a mouthful of half-chewed food. "How?"

"It is familiar." Itachi said. "I can feel it on my skin, like an electrical current."

Kisame stopped chewing for a moment, searching for the sensation Itachi was trying to describe. The feeling of the hairs on his arms crawling… he'd written it off as being cautious at being in the middle of Konoha, under a simple genjutsu—at being surrounded by dozens upon dozens of snobby, disgusting civilians. But no, it was there. The harder Kisame focused, the easier it was to feel it. It was a steady _hum_, like listening to an electrical current.

"It's everywhere," Kisame glanced around as he swallowed the last of his food. "How are we going to pinpoint it?"

"I have the feeling that won't be necessary." Itachi said slowly. "Look."

Kisame followed Itachi's outstretched finger, and glanced down the street. At the end of the small street there was a small courtyard of sorts, where a small crowd had gathered. A small dais served as a stage, and a trio was currently stepping down as the crowd clapped appreciatively. A woman took their place, holding up a magnificent white coral shamisen. Without words, she began to play, the melody haunting and soothing all at once. Her dark hair lifted lightly on the fall breeze, leaves carried from the forest fluttering gently through the air.

There was a nagging sense of familiarity about the sweep of her bangs across her eyes- and no sooner had the thought crossed Kisame's mind, did the woman slowly raise her head as she plucked the strings of her instrument, and her gaze danced through the crowd until it came to rest on him.

Her dark eyes seemed to glow with the firelight from his dream, and at that moment, Kisame _knew._

"That's _her?!_"

**tbc.**


	2. embers

**world on fire**

**ii – embers**

**by ancient-relic**

**-::-**

It wasn't as big of a surprise as she'd thought it would be—running into Itachi and Kisame again. She'd kept tabs on them for just over two months after their final encounter on the night of the full moon… long enough to gather that Itachi had suffered some slight memory damage from Naraku's forceful expulsion from his body, and that Kisame seemed to show similar symptoms. After she was certain they weren't still on her trail, she'd continued on her journey from country to country; although this time, with a new goal in mind.

Her initial wanderings had been aimless, but now she seemed to have discovered new purpose. Naraku was going to be an issue, it seemed, until he was purified from the jewel. The balance was too strongly tipped towards the darkness of the demons from the Sengoku Jidai that had been left trapped within the depths of the Shikon. Short of sealing herself into the jewel to maintain the balance, the only way Kagome had discovered to control the powers was to hold Naraku off when his confines were the weakest- on the night of the full moon.

After travelling with Itachi, and learning of the 'original' Kagome Higurashi, a curious idea had instilled itself in the back of her mind. A clue, or perhaps some powerful method of purification existed in this world that would help Kagome banish Naraku's great evil, so that she could protect the balance of the jewel once more. Since leaving Itachi and Kisame to their own devices, Kagome had begun a new quest, one to discover the holy secrets of the shrine in Itachi's story.

It had taken her just over half a year to discover the whereabouts of the remnants of this shrine, and another month and a half to sort through the wreckage and the various books, scrolls, and to even discover if there was anything that could potentially help.

While searching, Kagome had come across a journal from the rogue shinobi from Itachi's story. The pages were worn and frayed, but some in the middle of the small book were still readable, and aside from regular day-to-day life, Kagome learned of a small cave hidden beneath the waterfall at the Valley of the End, some historical location of a ninja battle. It was interesting enough by itself, but nothing near noteworthy…until Kagome discovered a holy sealing scroll, on the theoretical sealing of demons.

After doing more research on the sealing methods of demons in this world, Kagome learned of several sealing jutsu that were used to create the jinchuuriki, the demon hosts. From this, Kagome had concocted a plan.

Now, all that was left to do was find someone who could teach her how to use the sealing technique…and then, when the jewel was at it's weakest and Naraku tried to break free, she'd be prepared. When Kagome learned that Konoha had the greatest resource on sealing scrolls, jutsu, and masters of the art, she'd immediately returned to the area. A festival had been up and coming and became the perfect cover to allow her into the city.

Despite being relatively unmoved by seeing Kisame and Itachi again, she was certainly curious as to why they were in the city. They didn't appear to be the two ninja she'd travelled with so long ago- but she could feel their unique energies, familiar enough as they were. After finishing her performance, she quietly gathered the tips she had earned from the crowd and made her way towards the fringes of the village. They were following her.

* * *

"Where the hell is she going?" Kisame grumbled under his breath as he hastened to cut through the throngs of people.

"When will you learn to stop asking redundant questions?" Itachi scoffed. "If I knew the answer we wouldn't be following her, she'd be coming to us."

The hint of sarcasm in his partner's voice made Kisame hesitate a moment, and that moment was just long enough for the woman's lithe figure to disappear around the corner of a brightly decorated booth.

_Goddamn._

Kisame cursed every god he could think of under his breath, and ducked down the nearest alleyway. Itachi's presence moved further away, as he continued down the main street in the direction they had seen her disappear.

"I guess we're going to cut her off, then." he muttered to himself as the alley opened up into a small deserted back street.

"Cut who off?" a merry voice questioned, catching him completely off guard.

Spinning around, Kisame found himself face-to-face with the very woman they'd been following.

"…what? How did you-" he stuttered.

Kagome's deep blue eyes twinkled merrily as she absentmindedly dusted off her new summer kimono. If Kisame saw her small grin, he didn't comment on it.

"Do you like my new kimono?" she asked suddenly, giving a small twirl for effect.

Kisame shut his mouth; no words had come to his aide. _How did she sneak up on me? And what kind of crazy woman just asks about her damn kimono…?_

He eyed her slowly, taking in the light blue fabric that complimented her eyes nicely. It was plain, but the obi was a deeper, darker blue. Upon closer inspection, he noted the delicate threads that showed an underwater scene, looking up at the surface of the water. It was accented with orange and white koi.

"It's… very nice?"

"Is that a question or a comment?" Kagome raised her eyebrow at the ninja. When he didn't answer immediately, he continued.

"You know, you destroyed my last one so I figured it was about time I got a new one. I like the pattern 'cause the koi remind me of you, and all…" she trailed off, giving him a knowing smirk.

"…fish-face."

There was a brief tang of longing and familiarity when the nickname settled itself in his ears, yet even as he felt a strange sense of déjà-vu, his blood boiled.

"What did you call me, you pipsqueak?" he growled threateningly.

Kagome laughed, covering her mouth with one hand.

"Ahh, that'll never get old." She smiled. Then her face took on a slightly more somber expression, and she adjusted her shamisen where it was strung on her back.

"I know you and Itachi are looking for me again," She began, startling him again. "although I'm not entirely sure why. If you didn't already realize this, I _can't be around you_. So I'm going to politely have to ask you to back the fuck off."

"What are you talking about?" Kisame growled. "Just who do you think you are?"

_The nerve of this woman, speaking about us with such familiarity. I liked her better in my dreams when she couldn't speak._

Kagome's eyes widened slightly.

_Curious,_ she mused. _The memory loss seems to have affected him as well, more than I expected._

Kisame watched the expressions pass across the woman's face with no small feeling of confusion. She hid herself with the skill of an expert ninja, yet showed her emotions plainly.

_What a pity_. Kagome looked at Kisame sadly. _He doesn't remember._

She stifled the disappointment that welled within her throat, and covered it with a smile. Kisame eyed her warily. Ignoring his question, she continued on.

"Well, it's clear to me that you're even less of a threat than I originally expected." Kagome waved her hand carelessly in dismissal.

Kisame growled, wishing that they were anywhere but in the middle of enemy territory so he could slice her down where she stood. The woman seemed to sense his feelings and laughed again.

"The last time you tried to beat me, it didn't work too well either, fish-face. Now like I said, do me a favour and keep your distance. Remember if I wanted to see you again, I would have sought you out. I don't know why you and Itachi are tracking me, but if you know what's good for you, you'll leave me alone."

Kagome drew some of her powers forwards and into her fingers.

"You might not remember me, but I'm sure you remember this feeling." She slowly walked her fingers up Kisame's arm, to his shoulder.

Kisame felt his skin tingle most peculiarly where she touched him, but from the moment their skin had touched, he had been rendered immobile. _What kind of jutsu…_

"Remember." The woman warned. "Keep away. I'll put you down as many times as I need to."

Then she tapped him twice on his forehead.

The last thing Kisame remembered was the vision of her deep blue eyes, burning into his own with a look deeper and full of an emotion he couldn't put his finger on. Then, his world toppled sideways as he slipped into unconsciousness and hit the ground.

**tbc.**


End file.
